Trump admin sanctions ‘architects’ behind brutal crackdown on Iranian protesters

“The United States stands firmly behind the Iranian people in their call for freedom and justice,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated.

By Mike Wagenheim, JNS

The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Thursday sanctions against what it described as the “architects of the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators.”

The designations include Iranian security officials, such as Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme Council for National Security.

The Treasury stated that Larijani “was one of the first Iranian leaders to call for violence in response to the legitimate demands of the Iranian people.”

Mohammad Reza Hashemifar, commander of the U.S.-designated Law Enforcement Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Lorestan Province, and Nematollah Bagheri, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander of Lorestan Province, were also designated, as were Azizollah Maleki and Yadollah Buali, who serve as the LEF and IRGC commanders for Fars Province.

The two provinces have been the sites of particularly violent crackdowns on protesters, the Treasury stated.

“The United States stands firmly behind the Iranian people in their call for freedom and justice,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated.

“Treasury will use every tool to target those behind the regime’s tyrannical oppression of human rights.”

The Treasury also sanctioned additional individuals and entities it said play key roles in Iran’s shadow banking network, which is used to move illicit petroleum and petrochemical products to foreign markets and launder their proceeds.